What are the top three reasons why a hitter would have a high frequency of swinging and missing?
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Front shoulder and vision. “Trouble with curve”!
Bob
Funny you should ask, son had same issue. For him, it could have been what Bob said, I think it was a confidence thing. He went through a series of whiffs for “no reason”. Again, the lack of confidence could have lead to what Bob said. Drove me nuts.. I just don’t think he trusted the process
@Dadof3 posted:Funny you should ask, son had same issue. For him, it could have been what Bob said, I think it was a confidence thing. He went through a series of whiffs for “no reason”. Again, the lack of confidence could have lead to what Bob said. Drove me nuts.. I just don’t think he trusted the process
Did it improve at some point? Any reason why it did?
Answering my own question without knowing if it's right...
1. Vision - whether it's an eyesight issue, head moving too much or something where the batter is losing track of the ball.
2. Swinging too big, hard, wild and/or out of control.
3. Swing path - not being on plane with the pitch long enough and giving yourself a very small window for solid contact.
But, I could be wrong on some or all of these and maybe there is something I am missing and/or is a greater cause?
What type of pitches is the hitter having HF misses?
Yes, improved to the point of no more whiffs, it was his swing path, not long enough in the zone. I videoed his ab’s and sent to his hitting instructor - Id’d the issues immediately.
now his issue is not staying long through the ball, ugh…
@Dadof3 posted:Yes, improved to the point of no more whiffs, it was his swing path, not long enough in the zone. I videoed his ab’s and sent to his hitting instructor - Id’d the issues immediately.
now his issue is not staying long through the ball, ugh…
How old is he? Mine is 17 and would shoot me if I ever interacted with any of his coaches. He doesn't even like it if I offer them a casual hello or a small talk, break the silence, reference about the weather.
@2022NYC posted:What type of pitches is the hitter having HF misses?
That should be part of the analysis. Is the batter swinging and missing ALL THE TIME? Or, is it just against elite pitchers? Or, is it just early in the count (going for the downs) or just deep in the count (chasing with 2 strikes)? Or, is it just on high fastballs? Or, just on breaking pitches? Is just when games are infrequently played or when he's been playing everyday with no breaks? Is it just with runners on base? There's a lot of questions that can be asked which might help explain the root cause.
Thinking about this some more and it hit me: TIMING
Literally, being a half-second too late or too early can cause a swing and a miss. But, maybe that goes back to swing path and staying on plane with the pitch longer?
@Francis7 posted:Thinking about this some more and it hit me: TIMING
Literally, being a half-second too late or too early can cause a swing and a miss. But, maybe that goes back to swing path and staying on plane with the pitch longer?
Literally, it takes less than a half second for the ball to travel from the pitchers hand to the plate. A few hundredths of a second make all the difference.
what does a hitter do to correct?
1. check his eyes for learning dominate eye. He may need to switch hit.
2. Develop hands for quickness [this allows the hitter confidence in waiting before exploding].
3. Self teach with heavy bat, choke the bat, swing quick!!
4. "fine focus" on the pitchers cap then release point.
5. Study the pitchers patterns.
During one of our Area Code tryouts at Texas A&M, a Atlanta Scout, Ralph Garr and I discuss hitting.
"I ask him who was his best hitting instructor" He said "Henry". What did Henry say?
"figure it out for yourself Ralph"!!
"True Story"
Bob
For vision there are options including VR tech to to track strikes and balls from a range of velo and breaks. I find blast, camera and a tee can address swing path issues. Timing is a bit more challenging with limited access to live ABs. Pitching machines is good for working on specific pitch locations only and VR looks promising but unproven imo
@Francis7 posted:What are the top three reasons why a hitter would have a high frequency of swinging and missing?
1) Great pitching
2) Poor hitting ability
3) lack of work ethic on hitters part
3b) vision issues
3c) poor hitting mechanics, lack of plate discipline, chasing bad pitches
@Francis7 posted:How old is he? Mine is 17 and would shoot me if I ever interacted with any of his coaches. He doesn't even like it if I offer them a casual hello or a small talk, break the silence, reference about the weather.
Mine just turned 16 (2023). He asked me to video and send to his hitting instructor so he could figure it out. He was frustrated with not knowing what he was doing wrong, so he put aside the fact that I wanted to help him🤪
Could be many different things...
- Poor timing
- Poor bat path
- Poor swing sequencing
- Poor understanding of the strike zone
- Not having a solid plan/approach
- Not able to recognize spin
- Bat to heavy
@Dadof3 posted:Mine just turned 16 (2023). He asked me to video and send to his hitting instructor so he could figure it out. He was frustrated with not knowing what he was doing wrong, so he put aside the fact that I wanted to help him🤪
What was the adjustment/fix? Did it require a lot of work or drills to implement?
No, it just took one lesson with his hitting instructor who told him what he was doing wrong and then worked to correct it. (I don’t remember what “it” was - other then he wasn’t long through the zone)
